UK House of Lords Reform

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Unlike the House of Commons, which is directly elected by the people, members of the House of Lords are chosen through a system of peerage.

Some argue that the House of Lords is outdated and that the House of Lords needs to be reformed. Another possible problem is that the House of Lords has significantly lost much of it's power over the past 100+ years and it's decisions can be overridden by the House of Commons. What reforms, if any, would you propose to change the House of Lords?

Here are some explanations for the options I included in the poll:Keep it as it is.
This would keep the House of Lords exactly as it is.

Population Based Popular Vote
Lords would be elected through a popular vote. Much like MPs, lords would be represent constituencies based on population.

Area/Region Based
Lords would represent pre-determined areas, regardless of population. For instance, each county (or county-equivelant) would have a Lord that represents the county.

Devolution Based
Each of the devolved countries (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) would receive a per-determined equal number of lords (say, five for each country; twenty total). These twenty Lords would represent the interests of the constituent countries and their respective governments. This would be similar to how many federations operate their upper houses, including the United States.

Civil Servant Based
Direct elections would be held to elect lords, however the only people who can vote in this election are people who work for the government (police officers, teachers, firefighters, NHS personnel, etc.). This would be similar to how France operates it's upper house; as well as how the former Kingdom of Laos held it's parliamentary elections in 1965

Industry / Business Based
Lords would not be directly elected, instead they would represent the interests of various social, economic, professional, local, and other such groups. This would be similar to how the Slovenian National Council and the former Bavarian Senate operated.

Religion Based
Lords will be religious officials and represent their religion and/or church/mosque/etc.

Direct Democracy
Instead of having an upper house in the traditional sense, the House of Lords would be replaced with a system of direct democracy. Every British citizen would act as a lord and can vote on bills proposed by the House of Commons and possibly even propose legislature themselves, if enough people support it. However, the House of Commons will continue to exist to prevent mob rule and the many problems that could occur in a pure direct democracy. This can be created through a number of means, from citizens voting through the internet or merely going to their polling station to vote on bills (similar to a referendum).

Other Reforms
This is entirely up to you, please post your ideas here.

Completely Abolish It & Don't Replace It
This would effectively turn the United Kingdom into a unicameral country and completely abolish bicameralism.

Remove the bishops and make the lords be elected by the people, I don't think that legislators should allways be elected officials. Or simply abolish it, having two legislative chambers in an unitary state seems a bit useless to me.

Leftcoast 2 blocks from the beach, down the street from a green haze called Venice.

Posts

6,657

Originally Posted by Swazi Spring

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Unlike the House of Commons, which is directly elected by the people, members of the House of Lords are chosen through a system of peerage.

Some argue that the House of Lords is outdated and that the House of Lords needs to be reformed. Another possible problem is that the House of Lords has significantly lost much of it's power over the past 100+ years and it's decisions can be overridden by the House of Commons. What reforms, if any, would you propose to change the House of Lords?

Here are some explanations for the options I included in the poll:Keep it as it is.
This would keep the House of Lords exactly as it is.

Population Based Popular Vote
Lords would be elected through a popular vote. Much like MPs, lords would be represent constituencies based on population.

Area/Region Based
Lords would represent pre-determined areas, regardless of population. For instance, each county (or county-equivelant) would have a Lord that represents the county.

Devolution Based
Each of the devolved countries (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) would receive a per-determined equal number of lords (say, five for each country; twenty total). These twenty Lords would represent the interests of the constituent countries and their respective governments. This would be similar to how many federations operate their upper houses, including the United States.

Civil Servant Based
Direct elections would be held to elect lords, however the only people who can vote in this election are people who work for the government (police officers, teachers, firefighters, NHS personnel, etc.). This would be similar to how France operates it's upper house; as well as how the former Kingdom of Laos held it's parliamentary elections in 1965

Industry / Business Based
Lords would not be directly elected, instead they would represent the interests of various social, economic, professional, local, and other such groups. This would be similar to how the Slovenian National Council and the former Bavarian Senate operated.

Religion Based
Lords will be religious officials and represent their religion and/or church/mosque/etc.

Direct Democracy
Instead of having an upper house in the traditional sense, the House of Lords would be replaced with a system of direct democracy. Every British citizen would act as a lord and can vote on bills proposed by the House of Commons and possibly even propose legislature themselves, if enough people support it. However, the House of Commons will continue to exist to prevent mob rule and the many problems that could occur in a pure direct democracy. This can be created through a number of means, from citizens voting through the internet or merely going to their polling station to vote on bills (similar to a referendum).

Other Reforms
This is entirely up to you, please post your ideas here.

Completely Abolish It & Don't Replace It
This would effectively turn the United Kingdom into a unicameral country and completely abolish bicameralism.

It is sad that one of the last feudal systems in the world might be going away. However, the UK has always been a world leading economy, so it should also have a government that is responsive to change in the global system. The Idea of lords however should remain, when you look at the US we have a House of Representatives based on population, and a Senate based on States, the Senators are much like the house of lords. So I would think that qualifying people from a non-population based division should have a set number of Lords that are voted on. Keep the titles and knight hoods associated with the position make the elections spaced so that a person appointed to the house of lords really has time to do work. They should also revamp the house of lords so it has the ability to do actual work, again look at the US senate. In many ways American Senators are treated like the heredity lords of the UK, and in many cases Senators come from Political families.

I personally feel it should be the house for non-elected knowledgeable officials. People that are experts in there field and can send back stuff to the Commons with changes that are based on their expertise. I dont see the point in elected, we have the commons for elected officials.

I personally feel it should be the house for non-elected knowledgeable officials. People that are experts in there field and can send back stuff to the Commons with changes that are based on their expertise. I dont see the point in elected, we have the commons for elected officials.